Apparatus for treating tobacco.



NIL-629,368. Patented July 25, 1899;

A. v. uvsom-g. APPARATUS FOR TREATING TOBACCO.

{Application filed July 2a, 1398.

(No'IodoL) 1N VEN TOR A itorney WITNESSES m: Noam: PCTERS a. moron-mmWASH UNITED STATES PATENT O FICE.

nLP'HENAs v. nvsonn, on Brannon n, vrncinm, ASSIGNOR or TWO-THIRDS TOWILLIAM J. \VHITEHURST AND SAMUEL P. MAYO, on SAME PLACE.

APPARATUS FOR TREATINGTOBACCO.

srncrnrcn'rron forming part of Letters PatentNo. 629,368, dated July 25,1899.

Application tied at 2a, 1858. stra n). 686,731. (No model.)

To all whom/it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALPHENAS V. Hvsonn, of Richmond, in the county ofHenrico and State of Virginia, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Apparatus for Treating Tobacco; and Ido hereby declarethe following to be a full, clear, and exact description oftheinvention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to whichitappertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to an improvement in apparatus for treatingtobacco, one object of the invention being to so construct the dryingappliances that a current of constantly- .on the line 1 y of Fig. 1.

circulating heated air will be caused to pass downwardly through thetraveling tobacco and to also provide means whereby the air after itbecomes laden with moisture can be withdrawn without the necessity forstopping the apparatus.

. A further object is to provide simple and efficient means whereby toclean and dryithe tobacco, then to cool it, and finally to moisten ororder it so as to put it into proper condition to be worked-and to soconstruct the apparatus that the various treatments can be efiectedsuccessively and ,uninterruptedly while the tobacco is traveling throughthe apparatus.

With these objects in view the invention consists in certain novelfeatures of construction and combinations parts, as hereinafter setforth, and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a longitudinal sectional viewof an apparatus embodying my improvements; Fig. '2 is a transversesectional view on the line 'aza; of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a transversesectional .view

Fig. 4 is a sideelevation.

A represents an elongated housing divided transversely into threesections 1 2 3, the end Walls of the housing and the partition-wallseach having two openings 5 5 for the passage of an endless conveyer B,said openings 5 being of a height sufticient to permit the passage oftobacco carried by the conveyer from one room or section to the other.

The conveyer B passes over drums or rollers 6 7, mounted in suitablebearingsoutside through the tobacco under treatment.

and arrangements of it is disposed in at theexit end of "a greater orless extent cool that portion of 5 the radiator, while that portion atthe entrance end of the section, being higher, will besubjected to heatthe respective ends of the housing, and said conveyer extends entirelythrough all the rooms or sections therein, whereby to carry tobaccothrough the apparatu' from .one room or section to the next. Theconveyer is of a width to extend from one inner wallto the other of thevarious rooms or sections and is provided with numerous perforations topermit a The conveyer may bemade in any approved manner-such, forinstance, as shown inmy prior patent, No. 585,7 5'9, datedJuly6,'1897--andin s successively free circulation of air order to sustainsaid conveyer constantly in a horizontal position it is provided atintervals with rollers 8, adapted to run on tracks 9. These tracks maybe conveniently formed of angle-irons suitablyfsecured' within thehousing. v i

The first section 1 may be properly termed the drying-room, in which thetobacco will be dried by the constant direct application of heated air.I-Ieretofore' heating-pipes have been placed at the side andbottom'ofthe dry- 7 5 lug-room; but in the construction which con stitutes thesubject of this applicationl place a large radiator 11(preferablydividedin two sections) in the drying-room over the conveyer and extending fromwall to wall and end to end of said room, so that the entire areaofair-surface is covered by the pipes of the radiator, compelling the airto. come in contact with the heated metal. The radiator will preferablybe heated by means of steam,

a slightly diagonal or. inclined position over the conveyer, so that thespace between the conveyer and the bottomof-ithe coil at the entrance ofthe compartment will be greater than at the exit end 90 thereof. .Bythus water. resulting from condensation of steam disposing the radiator11 will flow to the lower part of the radiator the section, and thus tobe constantly subjected to the heating action of the dry steam. Thetobacco will therefore the radiator or heating-coil on entering thesection and when it contains the largest and from the hottest part oftoo amount ofmoistu re, and as the tobacco leaves the drying-section(having been deprived of its moisture) it will be subjected to a moremoderate heat, such as will not be liable to scorch it when it is dry.

In order to constantly and thoroughly subject the tobacco on theconveyer to a proper heat, it is desirable that heated air be forceddirectly through it, and for this reason a series of fans or blowers 12is disposed immediately over the heating-coil, so that when acirculation of air is created by said fans the heated air will be forcedthrough. the tobacco immediately upon leaving the heating-coil.-

The radiator being located just above the stock to be dried, the airwill have but a few inches to travel, and hence the stock gets thebenefit of the warm dry air, whereas heretofore with machines having theradiators at the sides and bottom the air has had a long distance totravel and has become cooled and mixed with moist air inthe room, thusdestroying its efficiency very materially. The top of the section 1 isprovided with a series of holes a for the admission of air, and eachhole is provided with a removable cap I), so that the amount of outsideair admitted to the .section can be regulated.

The fans 12 serve to maintain a constant circulation of air downwardlythrough the tobacco. In the course of time during the drying of tobaccothe air thus kept in circulation will become ladened with moisture fromthe tobacco, and when this occurs it is desirable to remove the moistureladened air. For the accomplishment of this purpose exhaust-fans 13 arelocated in the lower part of the first and second sections of thedrying-room and serve to exhaustacertain percentage of moist air fromsaid sections.

After leaving the drying room or section 1 the tobacco will be carriedby the conveyer into the cooling room or section 2, where it will besubjected to a circulation of cool air created by a fan 14.

From the cooling room or section 2 the tobacco will be carried by theconveyer into the moistening or ordering room or section 3, Where itwill be subjected to the action of wet steam, conducted thereto byperforated pipes 15, and to a circulation of air (moistened by thesteam) created by fans 16. I prefer to employ as many pipes 15 as thereare fans 16 and to terminate each pipe under the center of a fan.

The perforated pipes 15 are located at the right and left center of theordering-room and are so disposed that steam will be discharged in adownward direction under the apron, Where it will be caught up by thecirculating air and carried through the stock to be ordered.

In the bottom of the ordering-room there is a discharge-outlet 18 forthe escape of surplus hot air, said discharge-outlet communicating witha flue 18.

In the division-Walls between the coolingsection and the drying and theordering sections outlet-doors 17 are located, so that air from thecooling-room can be thrown into the drying room or section and orderingroom or section. .By this means I am enabled to drive the accumulationof moist air to the forward end of the first section, said air beingtaken up by the exhaust-fans and dischargedinto the open air. In thisway I am enabled to relieve the drying-room from surplus of moist airand at the same time blow cool air into the ordering-room, whereby tolower the temperature and purify the air in the latter.

A roller 19 (preferably of wood) is located at the delivery end of theapparatus and provided with reed brushes arranged in spiral form. Bythis means all tobacco or stock remaining on the conveyer will beremoved.

The shafts of the various fans are suitably mounted and are providedwith pulleys which may be all driven from a common source of power. 1

My improvements are simple in construction and effectual in all respectsin the performance of their functions.

Having fully described my invention, what Iclaim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In an apparatus for treating tobacco, the combination with a housingdivided into three sections, of horizontally-disposed fans in therespective sections for forcing air downwardly therethrough, a con veyerpassing sucoessively through all the sections beneath said fans, aheater disposed between the fans and con veyer and over the latter inthe first section and perforated steam-pipes disposed under the fans inthe third room and between said fans and heater, substantially as setforth.

2. In an apparatus for drying tobacco, the combination with a room and aconveyer passing therethrough, of a heater disposed in an inclinedposition above said conveyer, whereby the space between said conveyerand heater at the entrance end of the room will be greater than thespace between said parts at the exit end of the room, substantially asset forth.

3. In an apparatus for treating tobacco, a

housing divided into three sections, drying devices in the firstsections, ordering devices in the last section and'cooling devices inthe intermediate section, a'conveyer adapted to pass successivelythrough the three sections, means for exhausting moist air from the partof the drying-section under the conveyer and discharge the same fromsaid means below the conveyer for controlling communication between thecooling-section and the ordering and drying sections, wherebyaccumulated moist air can be driven to the dr ing-sect-ion and thereremoved by the abovementioned exhausting means.

4. In an apparatus for treating tobacco, the combination with anordering-room, and a conveyer adapted to pass therethrough, of asection, and

IIO

fan disposed above the conveyer and perforated steam-pipes disposedbetween the fan and conveyer and adapted to discharge steam between thefan and conveyer, substantially as set forth.

5. In an apparatus for treating tobacco, the combination with anordering-room, of a perforated steam-pipe located within said room,means located over said perforated pipe for 10 forcing air and steamdownwardly through said room, means for conveying tobacco

